The invention relates to a vacuum cleaner with an accessory unit for a plurality of accessory parts.
Vacuum cleaners have, alongside the floor nozzle fitted at one end of the suction tube, further accessory parts that are adapted for specific vacuuming functions. It is, thus, known to have, for example, furniture nozzles, crevice nozzles, and upholstery nozzles that either can be plugged onto the end of the suction tube or are plugged onto a tube component that directly adjoins the end of the suction hose.
European Patent Application EP 0 747 000; B1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,438 to Tuvin et al., discloses a holder for accessory parts that accommodates a crevice nozzle on one side and a floor nozzle on the other side. The holder is fastened in a releasable manner, by way of its front and its rear parts, on a handle of a suction tube for a vacuum cleaner.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a vacuum cleaner with accessories that overcomes the herein aforementioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and that provides a mount for accessory parts that can easily be fastened on the vacuum cleaner.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, there is provided, in accordance with the invention, an accessory unit of vacuum cleaner, including a base body and a plurality of accessory parts including a crevice nozzle and at least one of a furniture nozzle and a furniture brush, the accessory parts being connected in at least one of a force-fitting manner and a form-fitting manner to the base body, the crevice nozzle telescopically extending out of the base body.
The accessory unit accommodates at least one crevice nozzle, a furniture nozzle, or a furniture brush and the accessory parts are connected in a force-fitting and/or form-fitting manner with the accessory unit. A force-locking or force-fitting connection is one that connects two elements together by force external to the elements, as opposed to a form-locking or form-fitting connection, which is provided by the shapes of the elements themselves.
In the case of the vacuum cleaner according to the invention, a previously three-part set of small accessories, including a furniture nozzle, a crevice nozzle, and a furniture brush (also referred to as a suction brush) is united to form a combined functional unit. The parts of the accessory unit can be combined in any manner and can be connected removably to a hose assembly of a vacuum housing.
The invention provides a combination of a crevice nozzle with a furniture brush, for example, in conjunction with a telescopic furniture nozzle, it being possible for the furniture brush to be extended in the longitudinal direction of the functional unit, for example, through guide measures.
The invention provides a base body to which the crevice nozzle and/or the furniture nozzle and/or the crevice nozzle is connected. This is, advantageously, constructed such that the crevice nozzle can be moved out of the base body directly or through guide measures.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the crevice nozzle can be extended telescopically out of the base body. Preferably, the telescopically extensible parts are tube components disposed one inside the other.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the telescopically extensible parts have end positions and are latched in the end positions.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the crevice nozzle has first and second parts, the first part disposed inside the second part and telescopically extending from the second part.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the first and second parts have end positions and are removably latchable in the end positions.
With the objects of the invention in view, there is also provided an accessory unit, including a base body having an end side and a lateral wall and a plurality of accessory parts, including a furniture brush and at least one of a crevice nozzle and a furniture nozzle, the accessory parts being connected in at least one of a force-fitting manner and a form-fitting manner to the base body, the furniture brush having a sleeve enclosing the lateral wall of the base body in a circular manner and extending beyond the end side by rotation of the sleeve.
The furniture brush can, likewise, advantageously be extended out of the base body.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the furniture brush is, preferably, disposed on that side of the base body that is located opposite the furniture nozzle, as seen in the direction of extension. It is possible, here, for the furniture brush to be, preferably, arrested on the base body in the extended position.
In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the furniture brush is disposed in the form of a ring at the end of a wall of the base body.
In accordance with yet an added feature of the invention, the furniture brush is disposed such that it can be displaced in the region between an inner wall and an outer wall of the base body. The furniture brush may be disposed in the base body such that it can be displaced through a guide.
It may be provided, according to the invention, that the furniture brush can be latched in the guide in at least one position.
One embodiment of the invention provides that the furniture nozzle is disposed on the base body on the side of the furniture brush. In such a case, the furniture nozzle is, advantageously, disposed in a displaceable manner on the outside of the base body.
A particularly suitable embodiment is one in which the furniture nozzle is disposed in a pivotable manner on the outside of the base body and pivots from a rest position to an operating position
Easy handling is achieved if the furniture nozzle can be arrested on the base body in the operating position.
In accordance with yet an additional feature of the invention, the furniture nozzle can be displaced through two protuberances disposed on the outside of the base body and can be pivoted about the protuberances into an operating position and a rest position.
In such a case, the furniture nozzle is fastened on the base body through fastening measures and is of an elastic material. The furniture nozzle is configured such that it can be removed from the base body, and can be fastened on the outside of the base body in the operating position and, rotated through 180xc2x0 in relation to the operating position, in a rest position.
For such a releasable fastening, the furniture nozzle has two openings into which protuberances project.
If use is made of such a nozzle, the base body is enclosed by a sleeve that is disposed on the base body such that it can be displaced through two ribs, which are located opposite one another, through 180xc2x0, on the outer lateral wall of the base body.
In accordance with again another feature of the invention, the elements of the nozzle can be swung through hinges that are fitted at the open ends of the ribs. The elements are connected to the base body in each case through a folding bellows or through an airtight on a sleeve engaging over the base body.
In accordance with again a further feature of the invention, the furniture brush is disposed at the end side of the base body and is to be plugged, by the end side, one of onto and into a vacuum-cleaner tube component.
In accordance with again an added feature of the invention, the furniture nozzle is arrested removably on the base body in at least one of an operating position and a rest position.
In accordance with again an additional feature of the invention, the furniture nozzle is of an elastic material and has an interrupted wall permitting the furniture nozzle to pivot out of the operating position into the rest position, in which the furniture nozzle is rotated approximately 180xc2x0 with respect to the operating position.
In accordance with still another feature of the invention, the vacuum cleaner is characterized by a nozzle that is made up of symmetrical elements that are fastened on the base body and can be displaced in the longitudinal direction. The elements are, additionally, disposed in a pivotable manner.
With the objects of the invention in view, there is also provided an accessory unit, including a base body having a longitudinal direction, a sleeve displaceably disposed on the base body, and a plurality of accessory parts, including a crevice nozzle and a furniture nozzle, the parts being connected in at least one of a force-fitting manner and a form-fitting manner to the base body and forming on the base body a nozzle of two elements symmetrical with respect to one another in the longitudinal direction, the two elements having hinges pivotally mounting the two elements on the base body between a swung-together position in which the elements form the crevice nozzle and a swung-out position in which the elements form the furniture nozzle, the sleeve pivoting the elements when displaced on the base body.
To ensure that the elements of the nozzle can be arrested in the desired position, the elements are connected to the sleeve in each case through hinges or flexible lugs made of an elastic material.
To make possible integration of the base body together with the various nozzle forms between components of a suction tube, the elements can be swung to an acute angle in relation to one another. As a result, they accommodate a tube component in an air-tight manner between them.
In accordance with still a further feature of the invention, there are provided sealing surfaces connecting the elements to the base body.
In accordance with still an added feature of the invention, the sealing surfaces are elastic folding bellows.
To form a crevice nozzle, the elements can be swung together and each have, at their open ends, surfaces that are curved in relation to one another and also, on their outer lateral borders, ribs of a height that corresponds to, or is less than, half the height in each case of the rib on the base body In the swung-together state, the elements, thus, form a mouth-like opening for a crevice nozzle, the sleeve, at the same time, covering the hinges through which the elements are connected to the base body.
Alternatively, the elements can be swung out from the base body at right angles to the rib of the latter to form an upholstery nozzle.
The accessory part achieves a third function in that, on a side of the base body that is located opposite the swing-together elements, a furniture brush, which can be extended in ring form beyond the end side of the lateral wall of the base body, is fitted on the base body.
The furniture brush is, preferably, disposed on a sleeve that encloses the lateral wall in a circular manner, is guided on the base body through a guide and can be extended beyond the end side of the base body by rotation of the sleeve.
It is also possible for the base body to be plugged, by way of the end sides that make up the furniture brush, onto a vacuum-cleaner tube component or into a vacuum-cleaner tube component.
Alternatively, the furniture nozzle is disposed in a displaceable manner on the inside of the base body.
In accordance with still an additional feature of the invention, the accessory unit can be disposed in a removable manner in an open-ended handle, the handle being disposed on a suction-hose/suction-tube unit of a vacuum cleaner.
The accessory combination in the embodiments illustrated above can be fastened in vacuum cleaners between tube components, on a handle or, by securing measures, on a vacuum-cleaner tube or a vacuum-cleaner hose. Such securing measures, preferably, are an elastic material, for example, a plastic.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the accessory combination is fastened on a vacuum-cleaner housing. For such a purpose, the housing has, for example, on a side that extends substantially perpendicularly to the floor surface, a groove in which the accessory combination is fastened in a form-fitting or force-fitting manner.
Other features that are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a vacuum cleaner with accessories, it is, nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shown because various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.